There are many different types of casting known in the art. However, a common aspect of many casting processes is the need to achieve certain temperature thresholds within the mould. These temperatures need to be achieved accurately, as the material properties of the cast substance are highly sensitive to even slight variations in casting temperature and duration. These considerations are vitally important for creating particular material properties in single material casts, and for optimizing the physical and chemical bonding of dissimilar materials in alloys.
Presently, to achieve the desired mould temperatures, it is known in the art to heat moulds by a number of different methods, including by introducing hot gas, water or oil into the mould before casting, by infra-red heating, by electrical probes inserted into the mould, and by placing the mould in a dedicated preheating oven from which it is removed before casting. Further, it is also common in the art to use any of the above preheating methods to crudely reach an approximate temperature domain, and to then begin the casting process accepting that at least the first few castings will produce poor quality scrap due to suboptimal mould temperature and/or uneven mould temperature distribution. In this way, the scrap castings are used to further heat the mould to reach the desired mould temperature.
However, these known heating methods suffer from a number of disadvantages, including increased material cost due to scrap wastage, inaccurate temperature heating, and uneven temperature distribution within the mould. Further, these methods are generally not suitable for heating the system at any stage other than at the preheating stage, before casting has begun.
Hence, it would be beneficial in the field if both the temperature of the mould, and the materials within it, could be accurately and efficiently heated at multiple stages of the casting process, and without wasting precious materials.
Further, manufacturers are ever more concerned with the impact that their processes may be having on the environment around them. However, it is crucial that such concerns can be addressed within the context of profitable business. As such, innovations that can simultaneously decrease the adverse effects on the environment, whilst also increasing efficiency, represent vital contributions to the field.